This introductory chapter provides an initial conceptual grounding for studying irregular territories and microstates and establishes definitions and terms that will be used all through the book, including sovereignty, state borders, state sizes, and the idea that many countries have geographical...

This chapter examines the unique distinguishing characteristics of San Marino, as well as its international relations and how its statehood manifests in tourism.

This chapter examines the special situation of Vatican City and explores its transfrontier relations, and how these affect tourism in the microstate. Given its position in Rome, its popularity as a premier destination, and its constant flow of border crossings, Vatican City is probably the most...

This chapter focuses on 'unrecognized polities', or locations that claim to be sovereign states but do not exist legitimately outside of their creators' own imaginations or local realms of power. In spite of their lack of universal recognition, the two types of entities examined in this chapter (de ...

This concluding chapter highlights some of the main concepts elucidated throughout this book about tourism's relationships with the political geography of smallness, marginality, separation, overdependence, political vulnerabilities, and pan-Europeanism. It also suggests future research needs in...

The purpose of this chapter is to highlight contemporary perspectives of pilgrimage in the (post-)modern world, particularly focusing on changes that have taken place in pilgrimage travel due to the 'democratisation of travel' and the use of pilgrimage and pilgrim as a metaphor to describe other...

This book is about tourism and its multidimensional relationships with some aspects of state geopolitics as manifested on the ground in mini microstates and other anomalous territories in Europe. Chapters 1 and 2 provide conceptual grounding for studying irregular territories and microstates and...

The purpose of this chapter is to establish an understanding of the long practice of cross-border relationships in Europe. It describes the notion of supranationalism, or the gathering of sovereign states into large trade blocs as a means of increasing internal market strength and external market...

This chapter describes the unique characteristics of the microstate of Andorra and how it has utilized its matchless situation to become a success story among the mini microstates of Europe. Despite the obstacles the Pyrenees Mountains create for access and infrastructure development in the...

This chapter focuses on the unique alpine microstate of Liechtenstein and how tourism manifests there. In particular, the chapter examines how Liechtenstein's transfrontier relations, particularly its special relationship with Switzerland, affect the country's tourism and socio-economic development.